Healthier Option School Snacks
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The amount of sugar that passes through our students during the school season every year is absolutely astounding. It is estimated that a child eats 16 POUNDS of sugar per year! SIXTEEN POUNDS! That’s incredulous!
Krispy Kreme even released a statement about their Report Cards program that seems more like an oxymoron to me than anything:
“In the midst of a healthier school-food movement and childhood obesity epidemic, Krispy Kreme is rewarding students with a doughnut for every A on their report cards — up to a half-dozen per grading period.”
Really? Combating obesity by offering doughnuts? It made my laugh, but it truly is sad. I’m definitely ALL for a sugary sweet treat, but after watching the extraordinary amounts of sugar my kids are offered throughout the school year it’s no wonder why our society has such a sugar addiction problem.
These thoughts were sparked by my attendance at my son’s K-4 Orientation the other night. The director had to “remind” parents to give the kids nutritional snacks and breakfast so that they weren’t coming to school hyped up on chocolate doughnuts with sprinkles.
So I decided to make a visit to the grocery store to stock up on a few pre-packaged items in case we got extra busy in the morning or if I forgot to pre-pack a lunch. It was tough finding fairly healthy snacks!
There were tons of pre-packaged individual fruit candies, chips, desserts, cookies, etc. I settled for pretzels, crackers, nuts, etc. I wanted to list some good snacks to send to school with your children. Instead of chips, soda, cake, cookies, or candy why not send:
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Pretzels
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Apple Slices
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Rice Cakes
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Wheat Crackers
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Carrots
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Raisins
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Yogurt (check the sugar!)
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Plain Popcorn
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Grilled Chicken Strips
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Baked Sweet Potato Fries
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Grapes
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Cucumbers
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Frozen Bananas
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Fruit Jello Homemade
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Hummus and Tortilla Chips
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Coconut Water
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100% Juice
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Water
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Blueberries
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Strawberries
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Applesauce (unsweetened)
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Smoothies (homemade)
These are just a few of MANY different options you can send as snacks to school with your child!
